Batman: The Killing Joke

An artist picks his story

The Killing Joke began with Brian Bolland, not Alan Moore. After watching the 1928 silent film The Man Who Laughs, whose character Gwynplaine wears a rictus grin, Bolland began thinking about the Joker. When DC editor Dick Giordano invited him to do a project, he chose the pieces himself: "I thought about it in terms of who's my favorite writer at the moment, what hero I would really love to do, and which villain? I basically came up with Alan, Batman and the Joker."

The result was a 48-page one-shot in DC's prestige format, a square-bound book sold for $3.50, published in March 1988. It took a long time to produce. Both men were known for slow, meticulous work, and their previous 12-issue series, Moore's Watchmen and Bolland's Camelot 3000, had both run late. Bolland said DC "seemed prepared to let me do it at my own pace."

By the time Watchmen was finished, Bolland recalled, Moore "had fallen out with DC to a certain extent... in the end, he only continued to do Killing Joke as a favor to me." The original editor, Len Wein, left DC during production and was replaced by Dennis O'Neil, whom Bolland remembered as "a very hands-off sort of guy."

Moore, Bolland and Higgins

Alan Moore, born in Northampton, England, on November 18, 1953, is known for Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing, From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and is widely regarded by peers and critics as one of the best comic book writers in English.

Brian Bolland, born March 26, 1951, in Butterwick, Lincolnshire, made his name drawing Judge Dredd for the British anthology 2000 AD and led the British wave of artists into American comics. In 1982 he drew Camelot 3000 with writer Mike W. Barr, DC's first 12-issue maxiseries made for the comic shop market. Bolland said he saw his Judge Death work as "almost a dry run for drawing the Joker." After The Killing Joke he worked mostly as a cover artist.

Bolland pictured the flashbacks in black and white and asked colorist John Higgins, who had colored Watchmen, for "muted November colors." He was upset by the printed book, describing "garish... hideous glowing purples and pinks" and flashbacks "swamped in orange." For the 2008 20th-anniversary edition he recolored the whole story himself, with black-and-white flashbacks. The original art had long since scattered among collectors, so DC reverse-engineered the printed pages to separate the line work from the color.

One bad day

Told out of order, the story offers one possible origin for the Joker, loosely adapted from "The Man Behind the Red Hood!," a 1951 story by Batman co-creator Bill Finger. A failed stand-up comedian, desperate to support his pregnant wife, agrees to guide two criminals through the chemical plant where he used to work. His wife and unborn child die in an accident before the job, the robbery goes wrong, Batman appears, and the man escapes through a chemical waste lock that leaves his skin white, his lips red and his hair green. The Joker himself admits he is not sure it happened that way: "If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"

In the present, the Joker escapes Arkham Asylum, shoots and paralyzes Barbara Gordon, and kidnaps her father, Commissioner Jim Gordon. He tortures Gordon in an abandoned amusement park to prove that "one bad day" can drive any sane man mad. Gordon survives with his mind and his principles intact and tells Batman to bring the Joker in "by the book." At the end the Joker tells Batman a joke about two asylum inmates, and the two enemies laugh together as the police arrive.

The final panels are still argued over. Grant Morrison popularized the reading that Batman kills the Joker, hence the title; Moore has said he intended only a shared moment of clarity before their cycle began again. Moore said the book's central point was that "there are a lot of similarities between Batman and the Joker."

A one-shot that became canon

Although the book was presented as a single possible origin, DC adopted its events. Batgirl was formally retired in Batgirl Special #1 (July 1988), and when Barbara Gordon returned in Suicide Squad she used a wheelchair and had become Oracle, a hacker and information broker for DC's heroes. The paralysis held until DC's 2011 relaunch, The New 52, recast it as a temporary event. Editor Len Wein had to ask the publisher's approval for the shooting, and in 2004 Moore said it was "probably one of the areas where they should've reined me in, but they didn't."

The book won the 1989 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album, and Moore won Best Writer. Reviewers have called it the definitive Joker story, and in May 2009 it appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. Moore remained its harshest critic: "I don't think it's a very good book. It's not saying anything very interesting." In 2003 he called it "clumsy, misjudged" and of "no real human importance."

Its influence on film is documented by the filmmakers themselves. Tim Burton called it the first comic he ever loved and an influence on his 1989 Batman. Christopher Nolan cited it for The Dark Knight (2008), and Heath Ledger said he was given a copy as reference for the Joker. The director of Joker (2019) named it as an inspiration for that film. An animated adaptation with Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Tara Strong reached home video on August 2, 2016, to a mixed reception.

First printing and how to tell it apart

The Killing Joke was reprinted many times. CGC recognizes second through fourteenth printings plus British, Swedish and Italian editions and a 2008 edition, and notes that the printings are told apart by color changes to cover elements such as the title, the Joker's tie and his cufflinks.

A detailed collector's guide gives the rule plainly: the first printing's title is green, and only green. There is no newsstand version of the first printing. The second printing is pink, the sixth dark orange, and the third, seventh and tenth through thirteenth printings are yellow, separated by cover price, back-cover warnings and bar codes. The guide warns that the book grades hard and that scratches and fingerprints on the back cover pull grades down.

In February 2018, CGC had graded 5,327 copies across all printings and editions, with a median grade of 9.6 and 14 first printings at 10.0. A CGC 10.0 copy sold at auction in October 2015 for $3,824; the grading company did not say which printing. By October 1, 2026, the census entry for the 1988 book counted 12,024 universal-label copies, with 15 at 10.0 and 5,474 at 9.8. Completed sales of CGC 9.8 first printings in September 2026 ranged from $152.50 to $285.

The numbers

Print run

No published print run figure found; the book went through at least 14 U.S. printings

CGC census, October 1, 2026

12,024 universal-label copies of the 1988 book: 15 at 10.0, 49 at 9.9, 5,474 at 9.8, 3,158 at 9.6

CGC census, October 1, 2026, all labels

12,828 copies, including 739 Signature Series, 41 Qualified and 8 Restored

CGC census, February 9, 2018

5,327 copies across all printings and editions, including 278 reprints; median grade 9.6; 14 first printings at 10.0

Timeline

1. 1928

   The Man Who Laughs is released; its grinning Gwynplaine later inspires Bolland's Joker.

2. 1951

   Bill Finger's "The Man Behind the Red Hood!" offers the Joker origin that The Killing Joke loosely adapts.

3. 1982

   Bolland draws Camelot 3000, DC's first 12-issue maxiseries for the comic shop market.

4. Mar 1988

   Batman: The Killing Joke is published as a prestige-format one-shot.

5. Jul 1988

   Batgirl Special #1 formally retires Barbara Gordon as Batgirl.

6. 1989

   The book wins the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album; Moore wins Best Writer.

7. 2000

   Moore says in an interview, "I don't think it's a very good book."

8. Jan 2006

   The story is reprinted with Higgins's original colors in DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore.

9. 2008

   A 20th-anniversary deluxe hardcover appears, recolored by Bolland; The Dark Knight draws on the book.

10. May 2009

    The Killing Joke appears on The New York Times Best Seller list.

11. 2011

    The New 52 relaunch recasts Barbara Gordon's paralysis as temporary.

12. Oct 2015

    A CGC 10.0 copy sells at auction for $3,824.

13. Aug 2, 2016

    The animated film adaptation is released on Blu-ray and DVD.

14. Feb 9, 2018

    CGC has graded 5,327 copies across all printings; 14 first printings at 10.0.

15. Sep 2018

    Absolute Batman: The Killing Joke collects both the original and new colors.

16. 2019

    The director of the film Joker cites the book as an inspiration.

17. 2026

    A facsimile reprint uses Higgins's original coloring.

18. Oct 1, 2026

    CGC census for the 1988 book: 12,024 universal-label copies, 15 at 10.0.

The world in 1988

• Feb 12, 1988

  Anthony M. Kennedy is appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Mar 8, 1988

  George H. W. Bush defeats Bob Dole in numerous Republican primaries on Super Tuesday.

• Mar 13, 1988

  Gallaudet University names I. King Jordan its first deaf president after the Deaf President Now campaign.

• Mar 27, 1988

  WrestleMania IV is held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

• Apr 4, 1988

  Arizona Governor Evan Mecham is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.

• Apr 11, 1988

  The Last Emperor wins all nine of its Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Batman: The Killing Joke is number 88 of 100 in the comics entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (50 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Brian Bolland chose the writer, the hero and the villain himself when DC invited him to do a project.
• Alan Moore finished the book as a favor to Bolland after falling out with DC, and later called it "clumsy, misjudged."
• Bolland hated the original coloring so much that he recolored the entire story himself for the 2008 anniversary edition.
• The original art had scattered among collectors, so DC rebuilt the line art from printed pages to recolor it.
• Heath Ledger said he was given a copy of The Killing Joke as reference for his Joker in The Dark Knight.
• Tim Burton called it the first comic he ever loved.
• Twenty-one years after publication, it appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list in May 2009.